2.1: Prelude to Ethics Matters — Understanding the Ethics of Public Speaking
Janie Harden Fritz
Ethics Today
Communication may look effortless, but every choice—what we say, how we say it, when we speak, and even when we remain silent—rests on an invisible foundation: ethics. Ethics is the hidden backbone of all communication. Just as a building needs a strong foundation, every message depends on ethical intent, responsible means, and accountable ends.
Every day, people around the world make ethical decisions regarding public speech. Is it ever appropriate to lie to a group of people if it’s in the group’s best interest? As a speaker, should you use ignore new evidence that comes to light after you have completed writing your speech if that new evidence contradicts your speech’s core argument? As a listener, should you refuse to listen to a speaker with whom you fundamentally disagree? These three examples represent ethical choices speakers and listeners face in the public speaking context. In this chapter, we will explore what it means to be both an ethical speaker and an ethical listener. To help you understand the issues involved with thinking about ethics, this chapter begins by presenting a model for ethical communication known as the ethics pyramid. We will then show how the National Communication Association (NCA) Credo for Ethical Communication can be applied to public speaking. The chapter will conclude with a general discussion of free speech.
AI Insight
AI systems don’t decide what is ethical—humans do. Students must learn to evaluate AI outputs with the same ethical lenses they use for human speech.
As you continue through this chapter, remember: ethics is not a single topic we “cover” and leave behind. It is the silent framework you will carry into every aspect of public speaking—from topic selection to delivery, from persuasive appeals to AI-assisted tools.
Figure 2.1: Ethics as the Foundation of Communication
Image Long Description
This image uses a visual metaphor of stacked building blocks to show the foundational role of ethics in communication. From top to bottom, four colored rectangular blocks are stacked in decreasing warm tones (orange to yellow), resting on a large, dark blue foundation block:
- Top block (orange): AUDIENCE
- Second block (red-orange): LISTENING
- Third block (light gold): DELIVERY
- Fourth block (gold): RESEARCH
All four blocks rest on a wide blue base block labeled in bold white uppercase text: ETHICS.
The design implies that audience awareness, effective listening, clear delivery, and sound research all depend on an ethical foundation.
Text Transcription
Audience
Listening
Delivery
Research
Ethics
